


Starstruck

by SkyressTheWind



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cloud is an actor, Crushes, Final Fantasy Actors AU, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Zack and Cloud being starstruck, Zack being a gamer, because two certain boys are just too dense themselves, characters will be added, everyone is playing cupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyressTheWind/pseuds/SkyressTheWind
Summary: Zack is a known name in the gaming and streaming community who has a soft spot for a certain actor.Cloud is a rising star in the filming and music industry who loves to watch gaming streams in his free time, especially a certain one. Dreams are suddenly possible, when both of them crossing paths.But nothing will happen out of it right? It's just a simple celebrity crush and respect to each other, nothing more...at least, that's what they're both trying to convince themselves with.Of course no one else in the world is buying this shit...
Relationships: Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth, Rufus Shinra/Tseng, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 45
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1 - Zack

**Author's Note:**

> So I kinda played with an Actors AU for a while now and was trying to postpone writing this fic for a while, but Zack and Cloud are apparantly very persistent. So here you go~  
> Have fun watching these bois being dense and starstruck around each other.
> 
> Also please bear with me, english is not my first language and I didn't have a Beta reader. Hope I didn't make too many graphic mistakes :')

„Shit!! What the hell?! How dare you creeped up on me!“ Zack hollered and loaded his rifle. The zombies on his screen exploded in a fountain of disgusting brown blood. The ravenette let out a triumphant laugh and eliminated a few more zombies, before he looked back into the camera, which was standing a bit behind his screen, and gave a thumbs up. The game gave a victorious jingle and Zack sprang literally out of his seat and did a small victory dance. „That’s how I roll, guys! Zombies are no match for me!“  
His phone vibrated.

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [21:56]: _Zombies might not be a match for you but the Granny from the corner with her lemons~_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [21:57]: _And PUhlease learn how to dance dude Ôo_

Zack bit back his amused grin and eye roll and gave the camera an excited wave.  
„That was it, guys! Thank you for attending my stream, it was as always, a huge pleasure to play some of your suggested games. Also thanks a lot for your kind words and donations! If you guys want me to play another game, feel free to submit your suggestions in my ask box or write it down in the comment section. I’m going to bed now and call it a night! Sweet dreams and keep on kicking, my fellow geeks! We’ll see each other at the next Geekspeak stream.“  
With that he finished the stream and took off his black and blue headset.  
His phone vibrated again.

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:07]: You finished the stream?!?! :O

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:08]: _Well, since you were commenting on my crappy dancing skills, I suppose you know that I finished the stream now._

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:09]: _Why this shocked reaction btw?_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:09]: _You… you didn’t say anything about HIM!_

Zack felt his cheeks heating. His thumbs were flying over the keyboard when he texted back.

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:10]: _It’s not like I need to talk about HIM the whole time and in every stream I do!_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:10]: _… Do I really talk so much about him?_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:11]: _… Yeah dude… I Tell ya, that’s gonna be your signature move in the future >:D _

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:12]: _!!!!!!!!!!!!!! isdmjomcnieoxo cmefoecjöee!!!_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:12]: _Sorry I do not speak Geek :D_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:13]: _Btw why are we texting, you’re living next door…_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:13]: _Come over_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:14]: _Gimme a second to recover from the stroke you just gave me a minute before, man!_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [22:14]: _Also you at home?! I thought you’re still at work!_

The door of his room suddenly opened and Zack almost shrieked in shock.  
“Chill dude, it’s me. Stop sissying around.”  
Zack felt his heart pounding heavily in his chest. He looked up from his seat and gave the intruder a scowl.  
“Stop doing this Kunsel! I really don’t want to die today!”, he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.  
“Yeah yeah, we all know that you refuse to die before you met your man of your dreams~” Kunsel singsonged and giggled.  
Zack scowled harder.  
“Shouldn’t you be at work now? I thought your department gave you overtime.”  
“Nah, thank goodness I wasn’t part of the poor fools who got the overtime. So could finish up earlier and come home.” Kunsel shrugged. “I mean, as much as I like you, I am not risking my job at the police department for watching your streams during worktime.”  
Zack snorted and rolled his eyes.  
“Awww and I thought your love to me was waaay bigger…!”  
“Nu uh… No way, man! I like to eat and pay my bills more, thank you very much.” Kunsel was shaking his head while walking over to Zack’s mess of a bed. Without looking to his roommate and best friend he let himself fall over it and grimaced when he saw all the posters that were plastered all over Zacks bed side wall.

“Still can’t figure out how you are angling the camera so no none sees your fanboy temple…”, he mumbled and sighed exasperatedly. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised when people see it and won’t even comment on it. I mean you ARE talking about your man a lot.”  
Zack was scratching the back of his head. “He is not MY man, gosh…”, Zack stuttered and looked away coughing awkwardly. “Well I’m just glad the room is big enough for this maneuver.” He pointedly avoid mentioning to Kunsel that he had more posters and merch from said actor hidden away in his closet. And one TB worth of pictures in an external hard drive somewhere under his bed.  
It was embarrassing, yes. He was 23, IT student, an adult and still getting hearty eyes when his favourite star appears on the screen. At least he wasn’t shrieking whenever said star appeared.  
But seriously: How could someone NOT crushing on this sweet guy with eyes so blue like the ocean and with hair so soft and wild like the feathers of a Chocobo?

It all happened when Zack was in Middle School and broke his arm during a basketball match in PE. He was sent home after visiting the hospital and was so bored, he started to zapp through the TV channels, until suddenly a series caught his attention.  
It was a stupid teenage romcom and Zack would normally change the channel because he hated these romcoms with a passion. But this time? Hell.  
He found himself absorbed by the screen. Not because of the series. It was still pretty crappy.  
No, what caught his attention was the little side character in the series. A sweet blond guy who played the best friend of the male lead. And who looked like an angel.  
Suddenly Zack found himself watching all the episodes of this stupid romcom. And started to do his research on this particular actor, whose name was Cloud Strife. Heck, even his name sounded heavenly.  
The actor was just a few years older than him and back then pretty new in the business. Zack was almost disappointed finding out that the teenie series was one of the few where he had a more significant role.  
Until he digged out the voice acting archive of him.

Back then Zack _loved_ video games.  
But after finding out that Cloud Strife was voice acting several game characters, Zack was obsessed with video games.  
Yeah, it was dumb, he admitted it, but he bought all the games where Cloud had a voice acting role. Even the real crappy ones with one-star reviews. He played them, nevertheless. It was worth it to just hear Cloud’s pleasant low voice rumbling through his headset.  
And of course, he bought and watched all the other series with Cloud starring in it.  
Maaaybe he gasped during every scene. Maaaaybe his heart was fluttering in his chest whenever Cloud looked innocently into the camera (and at him). And maybe, just maybe, he shrieked like a banshee when he surprisingly heard Clouds voice directly in his ear through his headset during a gaming session the first time.

Thank goodness he wasn’t livestreaming back then. It caught him of guard because he didn’t know Cloud had this small role in that game.  
Zack made sure he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.  
Yeah, he was admiring the sweet blond chocobo angel. But he tries his best to not show it outside. Which was also the reason why no one should ever see the other half of his room, which was full of Cloud Strife posters and merch.  
Well, no one besides Kunsel. This man had a frightening skill. Whatever you’re hiding, he WILL find it. Trust Zack, he TRIED. In the end Kunsel was casually mentioning Zack’s huge pile of fanboy material and the life sized Cloud display under his bed (noooo how dare you assume Zack stole it from the last film premiere? He wouldn’t do that, would he?).  
  
Zack was dying that day. Twice. The first time when Kunsel was talking about it. The second time when he was admitting his fan love.  
But thank God, they knew each other that well since childhood, so Kunsel didn’t judge him. One important thing Zack learned that day was that Kunsel’s nosy skills were scary, or better: just impressively frightening. This guy could dig out juicy stuff from ages ago like it was nothing. There were times, where Zack was concerned that Kunsel bugged the whole apartment (he wouldn’t do this, right? Right?).  
Given that Kunsel was a police officer, Zack was glad he was never going to experience the real frightening side of this skill. Because the other side of this impressive skill was, that Kunsel always knew the best and freshest gossip regarding the world of the celebrities. How his best friend managed to get his knowledge, Zack didn’t really want to know. But his fanboy heart benefitted greatly from it. Thanks to Kunsel he knew exactly what new projects Cloud was currently working on. He really owed his best friend big time.

Said friend and roomie laid spread out on his sheets and stretched like a cat.  
“Anyways, how was the stream? Couldn’t watch the beginning, Did I miss out on anything interesting?”, he asked casually. Zack snorted.  
“Come on, you never miss out on anything, dude!” Zack grinned and rolled his eyes. Kunsel snorted a laugh.  
“Well, maybe”, he drawled and sat up. “How were the games? Any good recommendations this time?”  
Zack scratched the back of his head. “More or less. The last one was pretty nice. The first two were boring, honestly. Well, you know my followers. They love to see me suffering. So of course, I needed to play one pink doll dress up game for them.”  
Kunsel made a compassionate noise.

“And the second one?”, he asked.  
“That was a weird one. Needed to klick on different places on the canvas and something will pop out, jingle or happen otherwise. In the end, I was staring at a weird poo shaped creature with a single shoe on its head. Just weird.” Zack shuddered. “I am just thankful that so many people were watching this time. I think it was more than before!”  
“Congrats man! But you are entertaining and very funny so it’s not really surprising me”, Kunsel said.  
“Naww stop flattering me”, Zack said with a bright grin. “But I don’t mind hearing it again~”  
Kunsel threw a pillow at Zack’s face who caught it easily. “Nah, if I say it more often you’ll turn into an arrogant hog. And we don’t want this to happen, right?” He wiggled with his eyebrows. “I mean, I don’t think you’ll get any chances with YOUR MAN when you’re a big arrogant meanie~”  
“Stop it! He is not MY man!”, Zack yelled and threw the pillow back at Kunsel who just dodged it casually.  
“Yet!”

They squabbled for a few more minutes, until Kunsel got up and pushed the pillow, he caught from before, on Zack’s face.  
“Whatever. I am going to take a shower. Early bird patrols tomorrow. See ya, Geekboy”  
Zack pouted and pressed his pillow against his chest. “Yeah, see you. Will be late for me tomorrow, so we’ll probably see each other in the evening.”  
“This sucks, when are you free again?”, Kunsel asked and stopped at the door. Zack shrugged. “Probably Saturday. Unless I get a new assignment in class on Friday.”  
Kunsel made a disgusted noise and smiled sympathetic at his friend, before he left the room.

Now on his own again Zack decided to change himself into his pyjamas and put some of the Cloud Merch back to their old place. He smiled fondly at the little figure in his hand which shows one of Clouds video game character in their victory pose.  
With Cloud getting more and more popular these past years, the more merch his characters got and the more posters and stand-ins were printed. Much to Zack’s delight. But he had also mixed feelings about it. Back then, with Cloud being an acting rookie it surely felt like he was acting just for Zack. Now more and more people are fancying over him, especially a lot of irritating girls. Zack was happy for Cloud’s success but wished he didn’t need to encounter these fangirls who were screeching at everything and everyone and starting bitch fights over some life sized pillows (which by the way Zack snatched for himself, while the ladies were occupied).  
  
He chuckled and carefully put the figurine down next to his mousepad.  
Whenever he recorded something or was livestreaming he always made sure that the camera was aiming at the normal half of his room. The few figurines and posters which were at the camera angle were put firmly away for the time he was recording his weekly geek streams.  
None of the people out there should see this side of him. He had a reputation to loose. Especially with people from his class regularly watching him.  
Slowly he climbed up the bed and snuggled into his fluffy blanket. His eyes fell on his newest poster addition on his wall: Cloud, very prominent in the front with a big ass sword striped on the back and in the background the dark silhouette of the antagonist looking backwards, his glossy silver hair reflecting the fire around him.  
Zack couldn’t help but let out a dreamy sigh. Only two months now.

Two months before the most anticipated film of the year will be in the theatres. Well at least for him. Cloud Strife will play the main role in this dystopian film called METEOR FALL and Zack was literally vibrating of excitement. The best part? ShinRa Film Industries will make a series in the same universe called SOLDIER and Zack (well more Kunsel) scavenged enough from diverse gossip pages to know, that Cloud will remain one of the main characters in the upcoming series.  
Nothing, not even the end of the world could stop Zack from going to the premiere and watch the film in 3D. And maybe, maybe he will see his cute Chocobo actor there and finally get a photo with him. He surely hoped so.  
In the distance he could hear Kunsel singing in the shower. A devilish grin formed on his face as he reached out to his phone.

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** [23:43]: _Dude, are you murdering a goose in the bathroom?_


	2. Chapter 2 - Cloud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your nice feedback on this fic! I didn't expect it to be that interesting, since the AU topic is a bit different and unusual. But I am really grateful for you guys reading it and leaving so many nice comments and kudos! <3  
> I still don't really have a full outline for this story but I kinda know for the next 3 or 4 chapters where it will go, so let's see where this ride will take us, right? :'D
> 
> I try to write each upcoming chapter alternately from Zack's and Cloud's POV, hope you don't mind.  
> Again, it is not Beta'd so I hope there are not too many errors in the text.

„… on kicking, my fellow geeks! We’ll see each other at the next Geekspeak stream.”

Cloud let out a dreamy sigh and looked at his almost empty bowl of chicken curry he had for dinner. It was past 10pm and technically he should be already in bed, since he needed to get up the next day at 5 in the morning. The thought alone made him shudder.

He finished his dinner and lingered a bit longer at the now deserted stream channel of **GeekSpeakZack**.

He couldn’t believe it. Zack really played his recommended Zombiegame! He even thought he was dreaming. And the best thing was that Zack really enjoyed the game. Of course, as a pro, even the hardest opponent wasn’t really a problem for him. Cloud wasn’t even surprised. No, he anticipated it actually. He was still in awe how easy Zack solved the tasks while Cloud was struggling to get through Level 2 out of 5. His heart fluttered when he thought of Zack’s small jolly victory dance. How could a guy be so attractive and adorable at the same time? He always reminded Cloud of an overly excited puppy. Cloud was glad that he was currently alone. Without an audience he could sigh dreamily at Zack’s picture and didn’t need to feel embarrassed for making tons of screenshots. He surely hoped that someone from Zack’s community took a video from his dance.

Since he was late to watch the stream, he couldn’t set up a screen recording. He was still pretty sour about Heidegger, who just didn’t stop talking while the meeting for the actors for METEOR FALL was already over. Since two fucking hours! He hated meetings on Sunday evenings. Sunday evenings were reserved for Zack and only Zack alone! He never missed out on his gaming streams. Cloud never ran so fast in his life. He didn’t even say goodbye to the others and didn’t even wait for Tifa.

Today was the very first time, he missed the beginning of Zack’s stream and Cloud was so pissed. From the comments he could see that Zack was playing some funny dress up games and he wished he could see Zack’s reactions of it.  
Thank goodness he still had some leftover curry from yesterday, so he didn’t have to waste any more time for making dinner. He put the bowl aside and closed the browser, after scrolling a last time through the comment section.

Cloud wished he could play a game with Zack, it was on his bucket list. And if that won’t be possible at least he wanted to meet him once in his lifetime. Take a photo with him and maybe even get an autograph.  
Zack was so funny and his streams were always so entertaining. It felt so good to listen to his cheery voice. Cloud was sure, he would even listen eagerly if Zack was reading out of a telephone book.  
He remembered times where he was feeling down after some shitty castings and mean producers and only Zack’s smile could cheer him up. As far as Cloud knew, Zack was one of the few bigger streamers who really engaged with his community, answering comments or replying to messages.

Not that Cloud wrote him any messages. He couldn’t. The thought alone made his stomach doing weird things. At this rate, Cloud wouldn’t be able to hold a normal conversation with this guy. He would probably faint, as Yuffie bluntly pointed it out one day.  
Not that he would faint. Right?  
He hurriedly pushed these embarrassing thoughts away and stood up from his chair. He didn’t even bother to bring back his used bowl to the kitchen.  
His phone buzzed.

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:17]: _Go the fuck to sleep!_

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:17]: _R e m e m b e r: 5AM!!_

Sent to **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:18]: _Stop stalking me!_

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:18]: _Stop drooling over your man and go to bed. I don’t want to throw you out of your sheets tomorrow, it’s fucking too early for sports and you are not a lightweight…_

Sent to **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:19]: _He is not MY man!_

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:20]: _Don’t make me come over, Chocobo…_

Sent to **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:20]: _Yes MOM! -__-_

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [22:17]: _> :D_

Cloud grimaced while thinking about tomorrow. Another day in the studio and again negotiations and meetings. He just wanted to burry himself and never come out again.  
But on the other hand: Zack.  
He was the only reason why Cloud didn’t already choose the hermit lifestyle in the woods of nowhere.

He sighed and changed into his pyjamas: an oversized black shirt with a tribal like nibelwolf with a spiky black mane on it and a glowing graffiti logo. Yes, it was one of Zack’s merch shirts. And yes, it was already pretty worn out with how much Cloud was wearing that shirt. It was at least two times bigger than Cloud, but he didn’t really mind.  
Maybe he deliberately chose the oversized size because he imagined it was actually worn by Zack himself and he just snagged it from him. Don’t judge. Just let a man dream, okay? (to anyone else who asked: he ‘accidentally’ chose the wrong size, cough cough).

And of course, it wasn’t the only merch Cloud owned from Zack. He had his game pads, some more shirts and hoodies and a lot more key chains and mugs with Zack’s logo, the Geekspeak symbol and the nibelwolf. Coffee never tasted so good out of Zack’s wolf mug.  
He was glad that Tifa, who he was sharing a flat with, never burst into his room. No one should EVER set a foot inside. Yuffie almost sneaked past him once and he knew, he wasn’t exactly inconspicuous tackling her like a truck, throwing her out and locking said door. But he couldn’t risk his nosy AND chatty friend finding out about his Zack altar (aka his bedside table) in his room. Not to mention the posters plastered on the inside of his wardrobe.  
He would never live this down. Ever.  
Hence the reason why he is now locking the door whenever he is not around.  
He may or may not have at least two external hard drives with Zack pictures and some smutty fanarts and other fanworks on it. But that’s just a rumour. DON’T BELIEVE TIFA!

He snuggled into his sheets and closed his eyes. It felt just like he was laying there for a few minutes when the alarm set off.  
Groaning Cloud rolled out of bed and cursed his schedule straight out of hell.  
His phone buzzed and he reached out blindly and tried to grab it.

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [5:03]: _Rise and shine, Cloudy! It’s a beautiful day! >:D_

Cloud never had felt the urge to murder someone so strongly until now. How could any living person be so obnoxious cheery that early in the morning?!  
Tifa couldn’t be human!

New text message from **[Skullcrusher Tifa]** [5:05]: _Wake up sunshine ~_

Cloud groaned. He just wanted to throw his phone against the next wall and turn around to sleep more. But he couldn’t. Because Tifa didn’t have her nickname without reason.  
Good, she broke the skull of a nasty pervert who hit on him, but still. Cloud didn’t want to see THESE fists flying at him. He felt the softer versions often enough.

Grumbling Cloud got up and went through the torturous process of waking up. He knew, he wouldn’t have to feel like this if he went to bed early last night but screw this. Zack’s Geekspeak was way more important than that. Who needs sleep anyways?!

He changed into a simple comic printed shirt and some black jeans and grabbed his glasses with the black frames from the shelf. Still pretty groggy he opened his room door and proceeded to go downstairs.

“Ah, there you are, sleeping beauty! Did you dream well about your husband?”, teased Tifa who was making herself a smoothie bowl.  
Cloud scowled at her.  
“He is NOT my husband, Tif!”  
His best friend and manager snorted and rolled with her eyes.  
“Yeah, _yet_ ”, she mumbled under her breath.

Cloud decided it was still to early to have this kind of discussion with her. Again.  
He grabbed the box of his favourite cereals, some crunchy moogle shaped ones, and the coffee pot and tried to ignore his friend.  
“You know what the plan is?”, asked Tifa after they ate in silence for a few minutes. Cloud mumbled something barely understandable. The coffee was doing its job. He slowly didn’t feel like a zombie anymore.

Tifa raised a perfectly shaped brow.  
“Gaia to Cloud, wake up from your imaginary wedding with Zack~”  
Cloud made a not very mature face to her direction.  
“I am awake and I am NOT daydreaming about this!”  
“Well, then answer Chocobohead.”

Said Chocobohead groaned.  
“Tifa, I know my schedule and I am still silently crying over it! Why did you fill it up with so much nonsense?!” Now it was Tifa’s turn to scowl at him.  
“This is not nonsense, honey. It is strategic planning for your sake!”, she replied.  
“Huh?”, was Cloud’s not so intelligent reply to this.  
“Listen, Cloudy. How am I supposed to sell your misanthropic ass, when you are not wanting to attending to ANY PR events and meetings? You’re not making this easy, buddy. So of course I will pile all the important PR stuffs into your schedule whenever you agree to sacrifice one day for this. There’s no other way…!” She narrowed her eyes accusingly. “Stop making my life harder than it is, you stoic birdbrain.”

Cloud couldn’t decide if he should laugh or feel annoyed about it. Tifa was right. He hated to be in the focus of attention. He hated to show his face at meetings, not to mention on these big PR events. It was even hard for him to attend the castings or project meetings. Interacting with too many people at once sucked out his energy. This was the reason why he mostly avoided them.  
And today was one of these dreading days, where he was about to meet people. For hours. Someone please step on him and let him die. He wouldn’t even mind if Behemoth himself just sat on him and slowly suffocating him. Everything sounds better than interacting with needy and pushy producers and directors who are not listening to anything you are saying and just wanting to push their own ideas through. Not to mention all his exhausting colleagues. Why are some actors just so … difficult?

He bit on the inner side of his cheek and played with the small metallic Nibelwolfhead on his black leather bracelet. Another merchandise from Zack. But a limited one and quite subtle so no one ever thought about where it came from.

He sighed and looked up.  
“Let’s go Tif. The sooner I get over with this, the faster I am back home.”  
Tifa looked at him compassionately and stood up.  
“You can do this, Chocobohead. You survived it in the past. You can survive it again.”  
Cloud was just staring at her.  
“Surviving will be hard. I mean you know how these meetings with Shinra Film Industries executives are going. Especially now with METEOR FALL, their upcoming blockbuster”, he said.

“THE blockbuster who you are part of!”  
Cloud rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag. “Yeah yeah. Still can’t believe they chose me for this role. I am still a rookie in the biz and not really good.”  
“No, you’re not”, said Tifa empathically and grabbed her car keys. “The role is absolutely deserved and fitting and you showed every critic that you were perfect for it! Even the President of Shinra was positively surprised about your performance.”  
“If you say so…” Cloud couldn’t help but doubting it. He wasn’t that great of an actor, didn’t have a lot of acting roles in big and prestigious productions. He just knew his voice was kinda popular among the game and cartoon folks but that was it. Being in such a big film, especially from THE film studio in Gaia… It still felt like an undeserved dream.

“Oh and don’t forget, we’re meeting with Avalanche Studios today, too”, said Tifa on her way out. Cloud blinked wordlessly back at her.  
“You know I still don’t know if I want to sing the opening song for this game”, he drawled.  
“You absolutely need to! This is a big thing! People were waiting YEARS for the launch of CEBERUS! And you have a speaking role in it! It’s just perfect when you sing the opening!”, Tifa retorted. Cloud grinned.

“Yeah I know they waited”, he said. After all he was one of them. And Zack. What would he think about Cloud being in the game, he anticipated for so long? The thought alone made Cloud’s heart flutter against his chest. He can’t sing a song for this game his idol anticipated! His voice wasn’t that great and he was afraid that Zack would hate the game because of him screwing up the opening song. And Cloud was sure he would screw it up.  
Especially after he heard that Genesis Rhapsodos himself was singing the ending. No chance to sound great next to this superstar of a singer!  
And this man will probably join them for today’s briefing.  
Cloud was so anxious, he wanted to roll himself into a tight ball like a pangolin.

But nevertheless, he climbed into the car that will bring him into one of the biggest Music studios of Midgar: Avalanche Studios.  
Only the comforting feeling of Zack’s bracelet was keeping him from loosing his nerves from anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cloud is a ball of anxiety :')


	3. Chapter 3 - Zack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The formatting is making me go bananas :') I still trying to figure it out, what would look best for the interactings and so on. Hope you can still differentiate what is what and it doesn't look too bad and chaotic.
> 
> As always, thanks a lot for your kind comments and kudos <3

It should be illegal to teach at the university with such a boring voice, Zack thought, while trying to pry his heavy eyelids open. The tone of his professor didn’t even change in the last one and a half hour and Zack was dying. His eyes pleaded the minutes to move faster. He still had another class after this one but everything seemed better than the torture he was currently in. Pity that he couldn’t skip this class, since it was one of the important ones for the upcoming exams. He suppressed a yawn and looked back to his notebook where he was absentmindedly scribbled on. The page was full of faces and figures that suspiciously looked like a mix of a boy and a chocobo.

Zack looked around furtively. Phew, no one seemed to notice it. He hurriedly turned the page and tried to listen to the lecture about coding again.

Oh gosh, no chance. It’s still boring as hell!

Zack looked around again and thanked God that he chose to sit in the backside of the classroom. He cautiously retrieved his Phone out of his bag and turned it on.

32 new notifications from Gaiagram.

5 new messages.

Curiously, he opened his messenger app and started to grin.

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [11:17]: _[DancingPanda.gif] Here’s a dancing Panda to cheer you up._

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [11:18]: _Ugh, Luxiere is talking about his plants again. Why is he a police officer again? Should be a gardener …_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** [11:27]: _I swear, one more lecture about pumpkins and cucumbers and I am going to murder someone …!_

New Text Message from **[Mom]** [12:08]: _Oh sweetie, we bought a new router. Do I need a cable for this WiFi thing?_

New Text Message from **[Aerith]** [10:49]: _OMG!! Check the news from Geekternal! There’s a new article about CLOUD!!_

Zack’s grin froze when he read the last message.

New article about Cloud? Could that be news about METEORFALL? Or maybe a PR event?

He silently thanked Aerith. She was beside Kunsel the only person on earth who knew how deep his Cloud fanlove went. (And no, it was NOT an obsession, take that back!)

While Kunsel was sending him fresh gossip, Aerith was sending him everything about Cloud she happened to stumble upon while browsing through the internet.

He really owed them both so much. They’re really the best pals ever!

The ravenette checked his classmates and his professor again. But neither of them seemed to notice that his mind wasn’t exactly on the topic.

Well with how boring the class was, Zack wouldn't be surprised if no one else followed the guy till the end.

Zack typed in his favourite Gossipsite about stars and games and almost got a heart attack when he saw the home page: Cloud’s article was prominently featured and the blond actor was directly looking at him on the feature picture. Zack needed to put his phone away to caught his breath again.

Whoa, why was the room so hot suddenly?

He picked the phone up again and clicked on the article. He started to read the text with the monotone voice of his professor in the background.

* * *

**Rising Newcomer Star Cloud Strife rumoured to be part of CERBERUS?**

_People were suspecting this for months now since the publishers of CERBERUS were mentioning how much they admired the steady voice of the upcoming newbie Cloud Strife. Since then Strife’s management were fueling the rumours by posting a very well-hidden logo of the long-awaited game. Strife himself neither confirmed nor denied any involvement of his in this mega project and even the publishers kept quiet about it._

_Fans got suspicious about this silence since so much information about CERBERUS are out now, with the game coming out end of this year. Many hoped for a statement, especially after Genesis Rhapsodos being confirmed to be part of this project._

_After asking the management of Strife for an interview which got declined, the rumours are boiling._

_Stop being so secretive and spill the beans, Strife, your fans want to know …!_

_Furthermore …_

**Comments – View Latest**

@LaineyBainey

_OMG!! Stop beating around the bush! You can’t tell me, there’s NOTHING with so much silence!_

@JesBerry:

_KYAAAA GENESIS RHAPSODOS!!!!!! IT’S REAL, OH MY GOSH, SCREAMING!!_

@NightKinglet

_Heh, interesting. If the kid is part of the whole thing, I wonder, what role he’s gonna play._

* * *

Zack was literally vibrating in his chair.

CLOUD and CERBERUS?!

This would be the dream of a dream of his! His favourite actor AND his favourite game. There wasn’t a better combination out there! Screw the Sephiroth/Genesis team up last month!

He started to search the internet, but all the pages just said the same: Rumours but no facts. Disappointing. He slouched into his seat before an idea popped up in his mind. A sly grin slowly formed on his face.

He opened his message app.

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[12:21]:** _Yoooooooo Bud. Wanna research something for me?_ ** _😉_**

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[12:22]:** _That’ll cost you greatly, my friend._

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[12:22]:** _What rumour about Cloud should I look after? Spill it and let my magic fingers do their job, baby~_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[12:23]:** _Did I tell you how much I luuuuuuuv you? :**_

New Text Message from **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[12:24]:** _Yeah yeah, just do the dishes, man. That’s enough. Save your love for your husband of destiny …_

Zack copied the link of the article and sent it to Kunsel before, with a plea to find more about this possible collaboration. Then he closed the website and put his phone away. Thank God, the class finished and he could pack his stuff. He was dying of hunger. Hopefully the canteen had some eatable stuff today. He still had nightmares about the meals from last week. He still couldn’t believe that people classified them as harmless and legal. Ugh.

He was lucky tho and could snatch some noodles with a nice vegetable sauce. Hopefully it tasted as good as it looked. He sat down in a corner of the canteen and grabbed his phone again.

He still needed to check Gaiagram. Maybe Cloud posted something new on his profile, although he didn’t really expect it. The actor seemed to be a very private person. He didn’t have a lot of photos and uploads and even stories were really rare. Also the pictures sometimes didn’t make sense. Like that time when Cloud posted just a photo of a chair. That’s it. Just a chair. No caption. Nothing. And the photo stayed there so Zack wasn’t even sure if that was a joke, a mistake or really posted on purpose. He liked it anyway. (Of course with his secret private profile. He was kinda shy about showing the actor his streaming profile. He really talked a lot about certain games and series, where Cloud was starring. Or even talked about the actor in general. No need to show himself off as a creep …)

But Cloud didn’t only post weird stuff, he had some cute selfies on his feed, too. Some were when he was in the recording studio. On some he was in the gym, looking exhausted (in an absolutely adorable and cute way). One had him and his manager at a table at some gala which Aerith fawned over a lot, mainly because of how pretty the manager was (her words, not his!).

Zack had a mouthful of noodles, when a notification came, alerting him that Cloud posted something new. He scrolled up and actualized the feed – and almost spitted his lunch all over the table.

“HOLY…! NOOO FUCKING WAAAY?!”

Some students on the neighbouring tables gave him annoyed glances, but Zack didn’t care. He didn’t even care for the fact, that his noodles were hanging out of his open mouth like hay and gave him the look of a dumb horse.

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:01]:** _KUNSEL!!!_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:02]:** _KUUUUNSEEELLLL!!!_

Sent to **[Annoying P** **erson No.1]** **[13:02]:** DJHFIWEFCEMJVRKJMEXFMICGMCE

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:02]:** _!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:02]:** _I AM DYING!!_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:02]:** _AAAAAAHHHHHHH_

****

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:03]:** _ASDGEKFJFJPEFRKGKELÜWEFKLÜFLGRPLQÜRLREGL_

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:03]:** _OMG!!!!!!!!_

_Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:03]:** OH. MY. GOD!!!!_

****

Sent to **[Annoying Person No.1]** **[13:03]:** _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH_

* * *

**_@stormcloud posted a new photo._ **

**_Yeah. Seems like I am singing the Opening of CERBERUS. Lucky me, I guess …?_ **


	4. Chapter 4 - Cloud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, didn't expect to take that long for the next update (sorry for the wait guys!). I just didn't know how to end that chapter and keep on going with the story (since I want them both to meet soon). I hope you guys like it.  
> Again this whole thing is not beta'd and I hope I didn't make too many grammatical errors. My ability to form proper sentences is currently not available :'D

* * *

**  
The vow of silence is finally broken!**

_The Prince of Voice Acting Cloud Strife finally broke his silence. As many followers saw first-hand last Monday evening on his Gaiagram account, Strife will be part of the long awaited game CERBERUS. Strife’s management also confirmed all the rumours and Strife’s latest post on his social media account. Yes, it is true and YES we are not only getting an eargasm with his voice in game as one of the main characters, we will also receive the honour to be part of Strife’s music debut! The fans are excited._

_But where’s light there is also darkness incoming: Many people are criticizing the game developer’s choice of the newcomer, saying that he won’t fit into this incredible star cast with big names like Genesis Rhapsodos, who is singing the ending of CERBERUS and leaked the first thirty seconds of the song already last week._

_Fitting or not, we’re all excited to see how well this is going to play out. Strife already showed the critics in the past that he is a man of many talents, silencing a lot of them with his performance. So, will he deliver again? Only time will show …_

**Comments – View Latest**

@WedgiesForFree

_Oh. My. GOODNESS!! I KNEW IT!! A song and VA, how cool is that?! Can’t wait!!_

@LaineyBainey

_Wait? He can sing? OwO_

@Totallynotzackfair123

 _EIFJEMEFPWRGKLDFOIWTJDLTRÄSAQRUEGIK’ÜEPKGKRPHJOTKWPRO  
_ _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHY IS IT FOUR MONTHS UNTIL RELEASE?! I NEED THIS SONG AND THE GAME ASAP!!!_

@ElectricRed

_Ahaha noooo waaaay! Can’t believe that they hire a chocobo :’DD As far as I remember, these birds are not famous for their singing voice! >:D_

@Totallynotzackfair123

_@ ElectricRed TAKE THAT BACK!!! CLOUD STRIFE IS THE BEST SINGER EVER ON THIS PLANET, HOW DARE YOU?! DIDN’T YOU EVER LISTEN TO HIS ANGELIC VOICE?! UNCULTURED SWINE!_

@ElectricRed

 _Whoa whoa calm down_ _@Totallynotzackfair123  
_ _What a freak, geesh…_

* * *

Was murder an option?  
Cloud was considering this for real right now.  
„Gyahahahaha!! I can’t believe that our main star would be such a small dwarf! Gyahahahahaha!!“  
Oooh, murder sounds so good right now.  
Cloud was biting the inside of his cheek and glowered at Heidegger, who started to laugh at his height like 20 minutes ago. 20. Minutes. Ago.

He knew he wasn’t the tallest person in general (and ESPECIALLY not in this meeting room) but no need to rub it in. He already struggled a lot with it, growing up being mocked by other children and teens, drinking like 100 gallons of milk with the hope of growing even a millimetre. Only thing happened was diarrhea and his mom was NOT amused. Tifa was reassuring him a lot, but well that’s easy for her to say, since she was one head taller than him at age 16.There’s nothing more embarrassing than needing help to get the cheese from the highest shelf board in the supermarket because you’re too small. No, one thing is more embarrassing than that: Needing help of an OLD LADY as a grown ass man to get the cheese. Of course, she also thought he was a child who got lost in the aisle and wanting to help him find his mother.  
Cloud was so done, he didn’t even correct the assumption.

Cloud ignored the annoying laughter and fixed his eyes on his bracelet. Eyeing the wolf let him wonder how tall Zack actually was. From the streams he could tell that Zack was pretty well trained and probably very tall. Would Cloud reach to his pecs? Or to his clavicle? How would it be like to be hugged by this beauty of a man? Cloud just knew that Zack was wearing XL sized clothes, since the guy was absentmindedly mentioning it in one of his streams while talking about his new merch.  
Maaaaaybe he ordered some more of Zack’s shirts in this size and wrapped himself into it to get a feeling of it, how it would be like to have Zack’s arms around him.  
Getting a hug from Zack. Gosh, Cloud was sure he would die happily if that ever happen.

„… oud? Cloud? Hey, Gaia to Cloud! You’re at home?“  
Cloud blurted out a startled yelp and felt his cheeks getting hot, when he saw all the eyes on the meeting boards looking at him.  
„I’m sorry, what did you just say?“, he asked sheepishly. Tifa facepalmed while Rufus Shinra, the CEO of Shinra Film Industries crooked one eyebrow. Scarlet, Head of Marketing, laughed and leaned forward until Cloud was afraid her breasts will fall out of the generous neckline of her red blouse.  
„Oh? I wonder what our little birdie was thinking about“, she asked thoughtfully with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Cloud felt like he was about to get devoured and automatically leaned back. Scarlet always reminded him of a hungry lioness.

„Well, that’s none of your business Scarlett“, said Tseng the General Manager of the studio and Head Presidential Bodyguard cooly and picked up his tablet.  
Scarlet pouted. „You’re not fun, Tseng. Always back to business, huh? Wonder if you’re like this at home with your boo…“  
Tseng ignored her and pitched the marketing plans for METEOR FALL.  
Cloud had the feeling the more he was hearing of said plans the more likely he will faint.

A Q&A panel at a game and film convention?! Were they fucking kidding him? Didn’t they know how many people would be attending this?! Cloud was sweating already with the thought alone of being in a crowd of 15 people. How many visitors did a convention have? 1000? 5000? 10000?  
They’re expecting him to walk voluntarily into this lion’s den? Oh hell to the no!  
He CAN’T! They couldn’t force him to do this! This was suicidal …

Cloud shuddered and suppressed the urge to roll into a tight ball and scream. Since the last meeting with the whole team on Monday he was trying to avoid every PR stunt involving him and a major crowd. And now, days later, Shinra pulled out this idea. They really wanted to see him dead, right?  
Cloud threw a desperate glance towards Tifa who sat next to him stone faced. Secretly he prayed that his best friend would pull her magic and he could dodge this bullet. She was the only one who could turn these things around. At least most of the times.

„What do you think?“, asked Tseng as he finished his presentation. He looked to the gathered actors and their managers around the table. Cloud looked everywhere just not in Tseng’s direction.  
„Do we really need to attend the panel, Tseng?“, asked Sephiroth with a frown. He had tied his long silver hair in a high ponytail and played absentmindedly with the end.  
Cloud was still surprised that the man actually had this crazy ass hair colour, maybe not particularly silver but so blond that it was almost whitish silvery. Interestingly he didn’t have such long hair than his portrayed character, but it was still pretty long.

Cloud couldn’t help but be amazed and feeling overwhelmed with the fact that he was in a room with _Sephiroth_. He always loved his works as a child, binge watched all the films and series Sephiroth starred in and the fact that he was working WITH him still felt surreal like a dream. He anxiously expected to wake up at some point, but that didn’t happen yet.  
When Sephiroth met his gaze, he shyly averted his eyes, feeling his cheeks warm up. It was a huge challenge to stay calm during the filming and Cloud was actually pretty proud of himself for keeping his starstruck childish self at bay, whenever his role was interacting with Sephiroth’s.

This didn’t mean that he can keep on being calm when they where in the same room without the aspect of filming. He still struggled to just talk with the guy. Out of filming they probably just talked like ten sentences in total. It surely felt like this.  
Cloud was just glad that apparently the rumours were true about Sephiroth’s quietness. Although Cloud wouldn’t say it was that simple. The man wasn’t only just quiet. He was absolutely socially awkward. A trait that makes the unapproachable actor kinda adorable. Cloud felt solidarity with him, being a socially awkward bean himself. Still he refused to talk to the man. He would die, Cloud was sure about it. As sure as how he would die if he meets Zack one day. Nope. Not risking an early death. Not before he met his favourite gamer. After the meeting maybe. He wouldn’t mind getting striked by lightning and slowly fade into the lifestream while Zack was holding him.  
Was he being dramatic? Well probably. But working with and hanging out in a room full of self-promoters brought out the weirdest personality traits.

He blinked when he heard an irritated huff from Sephiroth. He tried to pay attention and realised that the Shinra executives, especially Scarlet, tried to convince the silverette to attend the panel.  
Cloud hoped dearly that Sephiroth could change their minds. Thank god for his social awkwardness and avoidance of social events.  
But his hopes were put down when Rufus Shinra put his foot down on the decision. Cloud felt himself slumping into his chair. He closed his eyes and felt Tifa’s hand petting his back.  
Ugh. Why?  
Someone up there hated him apparently.

The rest of the day will be torturous, he was sure now.

“Come on, Cloud. You need to eat something.” Tifa was shoving the plate back to him. Cloud didn’t even make the effort to lift his head from the dinner table.  
“Are you still sour about the decision?”  
He groaned.  
“Go away. Let me sulk. My life is over and you don’t even care!”  
He heard a restrained giggle.  
“Careful. If you keep on doing this, you transform into Genesis Rhapsodos”, she jokingly warned him. Cloud groaned louder.

His phone vibrated and he unenthusiastically reached out. After glancing at the lockscreen, his eyes lit up and he sat up straight. Tifa threw a curious glance to his direction. He payed her no attention.

* * *

**_@GeekSpeakZack posted a new photo._ **

****

**_Late Night Workout. I am so tired but yeah. Need to train these babies to slay more zombies, I guess. Give me a hands up if you are also Team Night Workout!_ **

* * *

Zack’s Gaiagram showed the boy in a loose dark purple tank top and tight black workout pants that clang to his body (and especially his well-shaped thighs) at all the right places. He was holding up his arm and flexed his muscles with a cheeky grin.  
Did Cloud let out a noise similar to a boiling kettle? ~~Yes.~~ Of course not! Don’t believe Tifa!

Suddenly he was wide awake and feeling better. He instantly liked the picture (of course with his anonymous fake account, no need to creep his idol out …) and looked it over again. Tifa would have said that he fawned and drooled over his phone for like ten minutes, but these were all lies! Don’t even listen to her!

He took the opportunity to scroll down Zack’s Gaiagram feed and couldn’t help the dopey smile that began to spread over his face. Zack had so many pretty pictures! Him sitting in front of his computer, with headsets with glowing black and blue cat ears. Or him in the gym, wearing funny printed sweatbands around his forehead. Some of them sported weird pickles with moustaches, some were obnoxious neon pink.

He could never get enough of looking at these pictures. His favourites were the ones that showed Zack in his daily life like the one from last winter. Zack snuggled up in a thick wool scarf and a cute wool hat with a moogle on it, his nose and cheeks red from the cold, his bright smile and sparkling eyes beaming like thousands of suns. Oooh this bright beautiful smile. Cloud would give everything to get this smile directed at him. Just once. Even is first born.

He sighed and jumped to his feed and cringed when he saw the picture with the chair in it.  
Oh gosh, this cursed chair!  
He still couldn’t believe that it got so many likes and comments. It was just a chair! The picture didn’t even have a caption on it! Why?!  
Cloud still remembered that day when he accidentally posted it. He was in charge of finding some comfortable chairs for their dining table and took the picture of a really hideous model to ask Tifa jokingly, if he should buy it or not. (Thank goodness, Tifa said no)

But being in a furniture shop sparked an idea in his mind and Cloud is still irritated that he didn’t thought it through.  
He wanted to make a story, trying to go for a mysterious vibe, similar to the aesthetic blogs he saw (and secretly followed with his other account). But well, he forgot that he still didn’t really get social media and this is not ~~definitely~~ one of the reasons why he avoided it that much. Yuffie already dropped him, telling him he was a hopeless case and refused to give him another teaching lesson.

Long story short: Instead of uploading it in his stories he uploaded it on his feed. Without a caption.  
And while Cloud was struggling to find the delete button, people were starting to like it, comments were popping in, until he was feeling too awkward to delete it.

Now he had an ugly chair in his feed. And couldn’t even do something about it.  
And the comments and likes are still flowing in. People were starting to interpret this new ‘aesthetic’ of his. Now he certainly can’t delete it anymore.  
He just hoped dearly that Zack wouldn’t accidentally stumble upon his account and see this atrocity.  
He gulped at the thought.  
Oh no! What if Zack searched all the actors of CEBERUS on Social Media? What would he think about Cloud when he saw this ugly ass chair?! Would he think that this was the aesthetic Cloud liked and would he be disgusted at it? At HIM?  
Oh he needed to delete this picture ASAP.  
But then people will ask why he did that. And _‘I am trying to avoid being viewed as weird by my gaming idol, who I want to befriend so badly’_ is not an appropriate answer for this.  
Ugh what should he do?

Tifa cleared her throat and pointedly looking at his rapidly cooling dinner.  
Oh right. Eat.  
And afterwards he could go full on into freak-out mode in his room. About the upcoming panel at the convention. And his social media appearance.  
Sounds like a good plan.  
He grabbed his spoon and started to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery of the chair is finally revealed and Cloud is about to have a freak out session soon.  
> So just a normal day in the life of our awkward bean, right?
> 
> Also: Can you tell who is behind all the user names?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated, so feel free to give feedback :)
> 
> I am currently quite busy so bear with me with the uploads. I try to work on the chapters on my free time and post them regularly.  
> If you have any questions about this AU or in general, feel free to hit me up on tumblr: https://xxmistressofflamexx.tumblr.com/


End file.
